Powell stays with U.S. Mideast peace plan: "The Israeli and Palestinian authors of a private Middle East peace plan presented their proposals to Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday but were unable to alter the Bush administration's approach to peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians."

Powell views unofficial Mideast peace plan: "The Israeli and Palestinian authors of a private Middle East peace plan presented their proposals to Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday but were unable to alter the Bush administration's approach to peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians."

AP: Iraq set to form war crimes tribunal: "Saddam Hussein and hundreds of his aides could go on trial for crimes against humanity and genocide in an Iraqi-led tribunal that will be established in the coming days, Iraqi and American officials told The Associated Press on Friday."

Middle East Demands Honest Dealers, Dealmaking: "When Saddam Hussein compared President Bush to the Mongol general Hulegu in a speech shortly before the U.S. invasion, he demonstrated the importance of history to the peoples of the Middle East. (Pacific News Service, Commentary, Franz Schurmann, Dec 05, 2003)"

Thousands welcome Sudan rebel delegation: "More than 30,000 jubilant supporters overwhelmed airport security on Friday and rushed up to a plane carrying the first delegation of rebels to arrive in the Sudanese capital in 20 years."

AP: Bremer predicts more attacks in Iraq: "Iraqi guerrillas will step up attacks in the next few months in an attempt to thwart a transfer of sovereignty from the occupation authority to a new Iraqi government, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq said Friday."

Palestinians to open West Bank market: "Palestinian vendors hammered at the rusty locks on their stores Friday as the Israeli military allowed a market in the divided West Bank city of Hebron to open for the first time in more than a year."

Iraq war newsBush holds fast to his Mideast approach: "President Bush showed guarded interest Thursday in an unofficial peace plan for the Middle East but held firm to his own approach that calls for a democratic Palestinian state and the end of terror attacks against Israel."

Powell urges greater NATO role in Iraq: "US Secretary of State Colin Powell called on NATO to take on a greater role in Iraq to help stabilize the violence-wracked country where the US is seeking to ease the pressure on its own forces. (AFP)"

Ex-minister: Accord needs Arafat backing: "An organizer of an alternative Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty said Thursday that it was unlikely the agreement would succeed without support from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat."

Guerrillas fire on Iraqi police station: "Guerrillas fired on a police station Thursday in a town west of Baghdad, wounding six Iraqis, and a roadside bomb destroyed a U.S. armored vehicle in the capital. There were no American casualties in either attack."

U.S. Seeks to Cut Off Money to Guerrillas: "A spate of U.S. raids on Iraqi smugglers signals a new strategy to deny the guerrilla insurgency one of its chief recruiting assets: money. If U.S. military strategists are correct, the insurgency will soon face a financial crisis when old Iraqi dinar notes bearing the face of Saddam Hussein will be worthless. The military wants to deepen the crisis by launching raids on black marketeers thought to be funding the guerrilla movement. (AP)"

Bush Plane Flew Under False Cover on Iraq Trip: "President Bush's flight plan wasfalsified last week to hide his Thanksgiving Day visit to Iraq,the White House said on Thursday, in another example of theextraordinary -- and deceptive -- steps taken in arranging thebattle-zone trip. (Reuters)"

Guerrillas Fire on Iraqi Police Station: "Guerrillas fired on a police station Thursday in a town west of Baghdad, wounding six Iraqis, and a roadside bomb destroyed a U.S. armored vehicle in the capital. There were no American casualties in either attack. (AP)"

Daily U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq: "As of Thursday, Dec. 4, 441 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 304 died as a result of hostile action and 137 died of non-hostile causes, the department said. (AP)"

U.S. Seeks to Cut Off Money to Guerrillas: "A spate of U.S. raids on Iraqi smugglers signals a new strategy to deny the guerrilla insurgency one of its chief recruiting assets: money. If U.S. military strategists are correct, the insurgency will soon face a financial crisis when old Iraqi dinar notes bearing the face of Saddam Hussein will be worthless. The military wants to deepen the crisis by launching raids on black marketeers thought to be funding the guerrilla movement. (AP)"

Powell Hopes for More German Help in Iraq Next Year: "Secretary of State Colin Powell saidThursday he hoped that Germany, a fierce opponent of theU.S.-led war in Iraq, would feel able to give more help to thecountry when Iraqis are granted more control. (Reuters)"

Correction: Vatican-Iraq Story: "In a Dec. 3 story about the election of the patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, The Associated Press, using information from the Vatican, erroneously reported his chosen name as Karim III. The Vatican said Thursday the correct name is Emmanuel III Delly. (AP)"

Bush Plane Flew Under False Cover on Iraq Trip: "President Bush's flight plan wasfalsified last week to hide his Thanksgiving Day visit to Iraq,the White House said on Thursday, in another example of theextraordinary -- and deceptive -- steps taken in arranging thebattle-zone trip. (Reuters)"

Israel: Syria still backing militants: "Israel brushed off signs Syria is ready to resume peace talks, saying Thursday the Damascus government continues to back militant groups like one Israel says was behind a suicide bombing attempt on a school."

Iraq war news updatesU.N. plans long-term monitoring of Iraq: "U.N. weapons inspectors are planning for possible monitoring of Iraq's biological, chemical and missile programs despite being barred from the country by the United States, according to a report to the U.N. Security Council."

The Long Way Home: "The journey home from Iraq is long and painful for the more than 2,100 soldiers wounded there in the past eight months. David Martin set out to meet some of the wounded and share their stories."

Assad calls Israel source of violence: "Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday accused the Israeli government of following "the policies of escalation and extremism," making the Middle East a more dangerous place."

Iraqis to Form Anti-Guerrilla Militia: "Iraqi political parties and coalition authorities are discussing the creation of a 1,000-member militia to bolster the U.S. military's fight against a guerrilla insurgency, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Wednesday. (AP)"

White House: Geneva accord may be useful: "The architects of a far-reaching proposed accord between Israel and the Palestinians campaigned for Washington's approval Wednesday, but the White House said President Bush's blueprint for a Mideast settlement still was the best formula."

U.S. May Have Just Missed Second Most Wanted Iraqi: "U.S. troops probably just missedcatching the second most wanted man in Iraq in a major raid,but seized important individuals among 54 suspected guerrillasdetained, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. (Reuters)"

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq: "As of Wednesday, Dec. 3, 441 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 304 died as a result of hostile action and 137 died of non-hostile causes, the department said. (AP)"

Homeless in Baghdad: "Six-year-old Ali, and Sa'id, 10, are grubbing through the rubbish piled up near their temporary home behind the bombed-out Iraqi air force club in the capital, Baghdad. They are part of a new community of sorts sheltering in unfinished buildings at the club's compound, near the national theatre in the heart of the city."

Shiite cleric new head of Iraq's council: "The new president of Iraq's Governing Council is a Shiite cleric and former militia leader who strongly objects to a key part of a U.S. plan to give sovereignty to Iraqis by July 1."

Shiite Cleric New Head of Iraq's Council: "The new president of Iraq's Governing Council is a Shiite cleric and former militia leader who strongly objects to a key part of a U.S. plan to give sovereignty to Iraqis by July 1. (AP)"

Saddam withdrew one billion before US bombs fell: "Hours before the US-led war on Iraq began, the nation's former dictator Saddam Hussein withdrew more than one billion dollars from its central bank, funds US officials believe he and supporters are using today to support armed resistance to coalition forces, ABC News reported. (AFP)"

Rumsfeld Says Will Not Bargain for Support in Iraq: "Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hassaid there was no question of trading U.S. backing for enhancedEuropean defense capabilities for a pledge by France or Germanyto contribute peacekeeping troops for Iraq. (Reuters)"

Body Armor Saves Lives in Iraq: "BAGHDAD -- Pfc. Gregory Stovall felt the explosion on his face. He was standing in the turret of a Humvee, manning a machine gun, when the roadside bomb went off. At the time, he was guarding a convoy of trucks making a mail run. (washingtonpost.com)"

Kerry Denounces 'Inept' Bush Foreign Policy: "Senator John Kerry attacked President Bush for an "arrogant, inept, reckless" foreign policy and laid out a detailed plan for prosecuting the war on terrorism far differently."

"They should have come and just given us food and some security," he said. "Even today I feel like I cannot drive my car at night because of Ali Baba (the Baghdad slang for criminals)." "It was then I realized that they had come as occupiers and not as liberators," he says. "And my colleagues and I then voted to fight. So we began to meet and plan. We met with others and have tried to buy weapons. None of us are afraid to die, but it is hard. We are just men, workers, not soldiers."

Saddam Hussein withdrew more than $1 billion (580 million pounds) from Iraq's central bank hours before U.S. forces invaded, and some of the money may be funding the Iraqi insurgency against U.S. troops, ABC News has reported. Quoting a letter purportedly written by Saddam and obtained by ABC News, and citing U.S. officials, ABC News said on Wednesday $132 million of funds withdrawn by the former Iraqi leader is unaccounted for and may be being used by his followers to fund attacks against U.S. forces. ABC News said the handwritten letter from Saddam, dated March 19, 2003, was found by U.S. agents in the files of the Iraqi central bank, and obtained by ABC News.

U.S. Forces Stage Massive Raid in Iraq: "U.S. troops north of the capital arrested at least 20 insurgents in a raid while workers began demolishing gigantic bronze busts of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad on Tuesday - both moves aimed at stamping out loyalty to Iraq's ousted regime. (AP)"

Today's U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq: "As of Tuesday, Dec. 2, 440 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 303 died as a result of hostile action and 137 died of non-hostile causes, the department said. (AP)"

AP: West Bank outposts slowly digging in: "Just six months after Israel committed to a peace plan requiring it to dismantle scores of illegal Jewish settlement outposts, an Associated Press inspection of 18 of the encampments found the settlers have expanded significantly."

Israeli to Powell: Skip Mideast meeting: "Israel's vice premier warned it would be a mistake for Secretary of State Colin Powell to meet organizers of an informal Mideast peace treaty. But Powell said Tuesday that just such a meeting is planned this week."

Bush's Baghdad-Bound Plane Was Spotted: "In a footnote to President Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad, the White House identified the location and time when Air Force One was spotted en route to Iraq last week by a British Airways pilot. (AP)"

NATO Allies to Stay Course in Iraq, Rumsfeld Says: "Despite recent attacks by insurgentson the forces of U.S. allies, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeldsaid Tuesday that virtually all of the countries providingtroops for duty in Iraq have promised to keep them there. (Reuters)"

Latest Iraq Attacks Test Allies' Resolve: "America's allies in Iraq, suddenly besieged by guerrilla attacks that until now targeted mostly U.S. forces, are also under fire at home from a public shaken by the mounting dangers. (AP)"

Intelligence experts speak out against the war in a new documentary: "A slew of former CIA officials, ambassadors, weapons inspectors, and high ranking governmental figures testify to the illegality and sheer irrationality of the war in the hour-long documentary Uncovered that has been promoted by the Internet-based lobby group MoveOn. The various interviewees dissect the "intelligence" put forth by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union speech, and the fuzzy photos used in Colin Powell's February speech to the UN, which is described by one former intelligence expert as a piece of "theater.""

Rumsfeld: NATO Allies to Remain in Iraq: "Nearly all of the NATO countries with troops in Iraq have pledged to remain there in 2004 to help stabilize and rebuild the country, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday. (AP)"

Idaho-Based Co. Halts Iraq Project: "A Boise-based engineering and construction company has suspended work on power line towers being built in northern Iraq because two engineers for a subcontractor were killed and two others wounded in a weekend attack. (AP)"

Annan meets with advisory group on Iraq: "Secretary-General Kofi Annan met his advisory group on Iraq for the first time today, a move aimed at persuading countries in the region to support the same approach to the post-conflict country."

Saudi, Kenya attacks possible, U.S. warns: "U.S. Embassies on Tuesday warned of possible terror attacks against two hotels in Kenya and a housing compound for Westerners in Saudi Arabia. Kenyan police said they were investigating reports that terrorists had packed a truck with explosives for an imminent attack."

Latest Iraq attacks test allies' resolve: "America's allies in Iraq, suddenly besieged by guerrilla attacks that until now targeted mostly U.S. forces, are also under fire at home from a public shaken by the mounting dangers."

Koizumi Adamant Japan Will Send Troops to Iraq: "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insistedTuesday that Japan would send troops to help rebuild Iraq asdomestic media reported that ministerial approval could bedelayed after the death of two Japanese diplomats there. (Reuters)"

Annan Organizes Group of Mideast Nations on Iraq: "Iraq's neighbors, includingIran, and Security Council members, including the UnitedStates, came together in a new grouping some delegates hopewill develop into an international conference on Iraq's future. (Reuters)"

Arafat hails informal Mideast peace pact: "Yasser Arafat praised an informal Israeli-Palestinian peace pact, but violence persisted in the West Bank with an Israeli sweep through the town of Ramallah, where Arafat has his headquarters."

Council In Iraq Resisting Ayatollah: "BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 -- A majority of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council has decided to support an American plan to select a provisional government through regional caucuses despite objections from the country's most powerful Shiite Muslim cleric, according to several council members. (washingtonpost.com)"

U.S. Troops Kill 54 Guerrillas in Iraq Firefight: "American troops killed 54guerrillas in a fierce battle to fight off coordinated ambusheson armored convoys carrying large quantities of banknotes inthe tense Iraqi town of Samarra, the U.S. Army said on Monday. (Reuters)"

Battle Reveals New Iraqi Tactics: "SAMARRA, Iraq, Dec. 1 -- Sgt. 1st Class Robert Hollis knew there was trouble even before the shooting started. As he stood guard in his M1-A1 Abrams tank outside a bank in this Sunni Muslim town, the usually busy streets suddenly emptied Sunday. Men hurried down back alleys, some running. Women dragged their children away from the positions of U.S. troops. (washingtonpost.com)"

Dutch protest against visit Colin Powell: "Some 1,000 people protesting against Colin Powell's visit to the Netherlands and the occupation of Iraq and Palestine gathered in the Dutch town of Maastricht ahead of a meeting of the the European security body, the OSCE."

Poll: Iraqis distrusting coalition troops: "Nearly four out of five Iraqis have little or no confidence in occupying U.S. and British forces, but more than 40 percent said the fall of Saddam Hussein was the best thing that happened to them in the past year, according to a poll published Monday."

Soldier faces discharge for Iraq marriage: "An American soldier has been reprimanded and will be discharged for taking a break from a foot patrol in Baghdad to marry an Iraqi woman, his lawyer said Monday."

Senate Dems Rip Bush on Iraq, Afghanistan: "Two Democratic senators just back from Iraq and Afghanistan predicted on Monday possible disastrous consequences from the Bush administration's policies for political and economic recovery in both countries. (AP)"

Shiite Assumes Rotating Iraqi Presidency: "Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, a Shiite Muslim leader who has criticized U.S.-led plans for Iraqi sovereignty, assumed the rotating presidency of the Governing Council on Monday amid discussions about how to select a transitional government. (AP)"

The government has extended the mission of the Dutch forces in Iraq by six months. An extra reconnaissance unit of the Commando Corps will be sent to Iraq to gather information on the situation in the south of al-Muthanna province.

Dutch Defence Minister Henk Kamp plans to send four Apache military helicopters to Afghanistan. If approved, the mission will involve the deployment of between 60 and 100 military personnel. The Dutch helicopters are likely to be deployed in and around the Afghan capital, Kabul.

White House Version of Mid-Air Exchange Disputed: "British Airways said on Monday thatnone of its pilots made contact with President Bush's planeduring its secret flight to Baghdad, contradicting White Housereports of a mid-air exchange that nearly prompted Bush to calloff his trip. (Reuters)"

Terrorists or civilians?: "Reports out of Iraq about yesterday's deadly gun battle in Samarra are painting markedly different portraits of what happened. Locals and Americans agree that the so-called fedayeen irregulars attacked a U.S. military convoy delivering cash to two banks. What happened next is emerging only through the fog of war. While the U.S. military is claiming that the 54 Iraqis killed in Samarra late Sunday were terrrorist insurgents, reports filed by Middle East news organizations claim that most of the dead are innocent civilians. Albawaba.com reports, "Locals provided different versions about the incident. According to them, occupation troops killed unarmed bystanders when they opened fire on all directions. Workers at a nearby pharmaceutical plant said at least two colleagues were shot dead and many injured as they walked out of the factory gates at the end of their shift. An AFP reporter saw blood spattered on the ground and bullet holes in the sentry box to left of the white factory gates." According to this Agence France Presse report, the dead included "eight civilians including a woman and a child." Continue »"

Mis-occupied Iraq: "From the New Yorker, comes another dissection of the poor plannning and blind hubris behind the White House's war. After reading this, it is hard not to think it a monstrous crime that the United States is not actively begging the United Nations to take over the situation, while granting it whatever financial and military backing it might need to help the country recover from its decades of hell - and six months of post-war anarchy and blatant mismanagement by a know-nothing Provisional Authority."

HARRODSBURG - When Brian Lackey returned home from Iraq earlier this month, there was a new member of his family he had yet to meet.

The chief warrant officer was introduced to his daughter, 5-month-old Erin Lackey, and welcomed home by his wife, Harrodsburg native Emily, and their 5-year-old daughter, Baylee, who was four years old when he left Fort Campbell in March.

Brian Lackey, 33, is a helicopter pilot in the famed 101st Airborne Division and has been in the Army for 10 and one-half years. He hopes his tour of duty in Iraq will end in March 2004 so he can come home to stay and get to know Erin even better. He is home on a period of rest and relaxation, and will return to duty in Iraq early next month.

The UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter Lackey pilots is used primarily for transport and carries almost everything, keeping other elements of the division supplied. After dropping troops where they are needed, the Blackhawks return carrying food, water, fuel, ammunition, and, when necessary, the choppers carry casualties from the front lines to treatment areas.

It is evident when Lackey talks that he wishes he could have been at home in June when Erin was born. He credits his wife, the daughter of Lonnie and Phyllis Campbell of Harrodsburg, with holding the family together. "She is very strong," Lackey says. While taking care of their home and children, Emily Lackey is also a full time teacher at a school at Fort Campbell.

"She took the weight off of my shoulders," he said of his wife. "She supported what we were doing (in Iraq) and took care of things back home." They met when they were students at Carson Newman College and have been married nine and a half years. He grew up in Arlington, Va.

For his part, Brian Lackey was so busy around the time his second child was born that his focus had to be on his job. The unit left Kuwait and was part of the longest air assault in history, Lackey said. It came as the war got under way and the unit left Kuwait for Karbala.

Lackey said pilots were flying between eight and 10 hours a day, only stopping to refuel, and they left their engines running as their choppers took on fuel. They often slept in their aircraft.

The work is so intense that he has been in the air 350 hours in the eight months he has been in Iraq. He flew 115 hours in April and May after hostilities began at the very end of March. He said he flies 250 hours in a normal year at home, and he is approaching the milestone of 1,000 hours in the cockpit.

One of Lackey's favorite parts of the job is flying at night, using night vision goggles. "You feel more confident because you can see them, but they can't see you. You're more focused and you use different senses. Everything comes up on you fast. It's exciting."

Radio contact between helicopters flying in the dark keeps down the number of accidents and the number of casualties blamed on "friendly fire." "We fly as we train," he said. "We literally do what we do in training at Fort Campbell. It helps when we're working with other units. That's why we've had little collateral damage."

The first part of the war, Lackey and his colleagues were not at permanent bases, but in recent months, he has been based near Mosul, just a 20-minute helicopter ride from the Iraqi-Turkish boarder.

AT&T supplies a bank of 40 telephones the soldiers can use to call home, but they don't always work and the calls are not free, so phone cards are popular gifts. While the food has improved, there are better facilities for communications with home and more comfortable living arrangements, it is a very dangerous place for Americans, as it is in many parts of the country.

"The danger level is as high as it was at the beginning," he said. "(Those opposing the Americans) have gotten smarter." Everyday life is somewhat easier and Lackey credits the Army with making conditions as good as they are for the soldiers and their families.

"The Army is really good about taking care of the families. We have so many soldiers in the same situation as I was (when Erin was born) and the Army made every effort to offer us as much assistance as they can."

In Mosul, Lackey has taken part in public relations as well as flying and the Iraqis not attacking Americans are friendly and outgoing, and many of the young people speak English. U.S. forces on the ground have helped rebuild and resupply a school and reopened the largest university in Iraq, helping resupply the university with equipment including computers.

Lackey plans to make the Army his career and he'd like to remain in the 101st Airborne Division for the rest of that career, but he knows he'll be transferred to another unit when he gets home.

He is grateful for the support for the troops from home. "It's been tremendous. The support makes it easier; it lets you know they haven't forgotten you. Sometimes over there you feel so alone. The support is very warm and more than I imagined."

U.S. Says 54 Iraqis Killed in Samarra: "The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes. But residents said Monday that the casualty figure was much lower and that the dead were mostly civilians. (AP)"

Israeli troops kill two in West Bank raid: "The Israeli military launched a large-scale raid on suspected militants in the West Bank city of Ramallah Monday, killing at least two armed Palestinians and arresting dozens of other people, the army said."

The United States has raised the death toll from intense clashes with insurgents in the Iraqi town of Samarra to 54, after reports from Iraqi doctors that eight civilians were killed by US fire in the exchanges. A hospital director in Samarra says another 60 civilians were injured. US commanders previously said they had they killed 46 Iraqi insurgents in the clashes. The hospital says a woman and child were amongst the eight civilians who died in the fighting.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has acknowledged it "lacked specific information" about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction when it compiled an intelligence estimate last year that served to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq. [...] ... an explanation issued over the weekend by veteran CIA analyst Stuart Cohen, who was in charge of putting together the 2002 intelligence estimate and currently serves as vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council, made clear the case against Iraq, as presented by the CIA behind closed doors, was much less clear-cut and more nuanced. [...] The document still concluded that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of the 150-kilometre limit imposed by the UN Security Council. It also said that Baghdad did not have nuclear weapons. Mr Cohen said he still stood by those judgments. [...] Moreover, specialists from three US government agencies - the State and Energy Departments and the Air Force - vocally disagreed with at least some of the findings, the CIA analyst said, who denied that these expressions of dissent had been somehow suppressed or buried in footnotes. " All agencies were fully exposed to these alternative views, and the heads of those organisations blessed the wording and placement of their alternative views ," Mr Cohen said. The veteran CIA analyst stressed that all major conclusions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction had been drawn on the basis of information "overwhelmingly" gleaned from a combination of human intelligence, satellite imagery and communications intercepts. " There is a reason that the October 2002 review of Iraq's WMD programs is called a National Intelligence Estimate and not a National Intelligence factbook ," Mr Cohen said. " On almost any issue of the day that we face, hard evidence will only take intelligence professionals so far ."

A seven-year-old child brandishing a Kalashnikov was shot in the foot by US troops during a raid in the hotspot city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, the US military said. "[Troops] conducted a mission in the Ramadi area today. While on patrol, the soldiers witnessed two men with weapons running into a nearby residence. The soldiers followed the men in order to apprehend them for questioning ," a Central Command statement said. " Upon approaching the house, a seven-year-old child came out with an AK-47 rifle pointed at the soldiers. A soldier responded in self-defence and shot the child in the foot. " The statement said the child was evacuated to a nearby army medical facility for treatment and then flown to Baghdad.

Mideast negotiators to launch peace plan: "Last-minute dissent among the Palestinians and strong opposition from Israeli leaders underscored just how difficult it will be for a symbolic peace plan to sway either side after years of conflict in the Middle East."

U.S. allies promise to stay in Iraq: "U.S. coalition partners South Korea and Spain promised to stay in Iraq despite attacks that killed their citizens over the weekend, while the deaths of two Japanese coincided with a poll that showed growing fears in Japan about sending troops."

Saudi interrogators use new technique: "Forget the bread-and-water routine. Saudi Arabian interrogators often bring a Quran, the Muslim holy book, to their prison interviews, using a technique that has proved successful in eliciting information from al-Qaida captives and reorienting them to less violent religious beliefs."

South Korea, Japan Sending Troops to Iraq: "Japan and South Korea voiceddetermination on Monday to proceed with sending troops to Iraqdespite weekend killings of several of their nationals thereand popular doubts about taking part in the operation. (Reuters)"

Iraqi scientists never revived their long-dead nuclear bomb program, and in fact lied to Saddam Hussein about how much progress they were making before U.S.-led attacks shut the operation down for good in 1991, Iraqi physicists say.

Before that first Gulf War, the chief of the weapons program resorted to "blatant exaggeration" in telling Iraq's president how much bomb material was being produced, key scientist Imad Khadduri writes in a new book.

Other leading physicists, in Baghdad interviews, said the hope for an Iraqi atomic bomb was never realistic. "It was all like building sand castles," said Abdel Mehdi Talib, Baghdad University's dean of sciences.

Seven months after a U.S.-British invasion toppled Saddam's Baath Party government, Iraqi scientists have grown more vocal in countering Bush administration claims, used to justify the war, that Baghdad had "reconstituted" nuclear weapons development, and that it once was a mere six months from making a bomb.

At best, Khadduri writes, it would have taken Iraq several years to build a nuclear weapon if the 1991 war and subsequent U.N. inspections had not intervened.

His self-published "Iraq's Nuclear Mirage," a chronicle of years of secret weapons work and of a final escape into exile, is part of this senior scientist's emergence from a low profile in Canada - intended to refute what he calls a "massive deception" in Washington that led the United States into war.

Months of searching by hundreds of U.S. experts have found no trace of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in Iraq, just as U.N. inspectors found none before the war. No Iraqi scientists have confirmed the programs were revived in recent years.

Bush administration officials still speak, nonetheless, of a threat from such weapons - of Baghdad's "robust plans" for them, as Vice President Dick Cheney puts it - in defending last March's U.S. invasion of Iraq. They offer no hard evidence, however.

Khadduri, a U.S.- and British-educated physicist, writes that he did theoretical work on nuclear weapons as long ago as the mid-1970s, after joining Iraq's Atomic Energy Commission. By the late 1980s, as the secret bomb program accelerated, he was in a pivotal position as coordinator of all its scientific and engineering information.

The U.N. inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who dismantled the bomb program after Iraq's defeat in the 1991 war, saw Khadduri as a key source and conducted an all-day interview with him earlier this year in Toronto, where he has resided since 1998.

"Iraq's Nuclear Mirage," available via online booksellers, dismisses the U.S. contention that the atom-bomb establishment was somehow resurrected after the IAEA demolished it, U.N. inspectors were stationed in Iraq and Iraqi specialists were scattered.

"Where is the scientific and engineering staff required for such an enormous effort?" he asks. "Where are the buildings and infrastructure?"

The continuing U.S. weapons hunt amounts to no more than "investigating mirages," he says.

An ex-bombmaker still in Iraq is just as dismissive of the unsubstantiated U.S. allegations.

"There was no point in trying to revive this program. There was no material, no equipment, no scientists," former bomb designer Sabah Abdul Noor said in a recent interview at Baghdad's Technology University.

"Scientists were scattered and under the eyes of inspectors, totally scattered. To do a project, you have to be together."

Talib, the newly elected university dean, was an anti-Baathist who didn't participate in the bomb program, but was close to many who did. They vastly oversold their accomplishments before 1991, the physicist said.

"They put a lot of lies on Saddam Hussein," he said in a Baghdad interview. "They took a lot of money out of him through what you call, in English, bluffing." When their installations were finally demolished, it "saved their necks" by burying their mistakes, he said. "They could tell Saddam, `There's nothing left.'"

Khadduri, in his core position in the program, could attest to the overselling.

He writes that when he transferred top-secret documents of bomb program chief Jafar Dhia Jafar to an optical disc in 1991, he found the "blatant exaggeration" in a 1990 report to Saddam.

With its clever wording, Khadduri said in a telephone interview from Toronto, "one could easily have been convinced we had produced a couple of kilograms of enriched uranium instead of a couple of grams" - that is, about four pounds of bomb material instead of a fraction of an ounce.

A bomb would have required some 40 pounds of highly enriched uranium.

In a 1997 summary, the IAEA said there were no indications the Iraqis ever produced more than a few grams of such material. It also said there were "no indications that there remains in Iraq any physical capability for the production of amounts of weapon-usable nuclear material of any practical significance."

Khadduri and others said the design and actual production of a bomb would have been an extremely difficult task.

It was an impossible quest, "all futility," said one of Baghdad's senior nuclear physicists, Hamed M. al-Bahili.

Al-Bahili, who joined the Atomic Energy Commission in 1968 but remained outside the weapons program, said his colleagues inside "all knew they wouldn't achieve results." As for whether the program was later revived, he said, "these American inspectors are wasting their time."
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CIA admits lack of specifics on Iraqi weapons before invasion: "The US Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged it "lacked specific information" about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction when it compiled an intelligence estimate last year that served to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq. (AFP)"

Japan Diplomats Slain in Iraq, Tokyo Says Undaunted: "Unknown assailants ambushed and murderedtwo Japanese diplomats in northern Iraq, piling new pressure onthe Tokyo government as it weighs a decision on sending troopsto help rebuild that country. (Reuters)"

Seven Spanish intelligence officers killed in Iraq attacks: "Seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed in a mortar and grenade attack on their convoy near Baghdad, the deadliest such incident to hit Spanish troops since they deployed in Iraq in August, Spain's defence minister said. (AFP)"

Japan Diplomats Slain in Iraq, Japan Says Undaunted: "Unknown assailants ambushed and murderedtwo Japanese diplomats in northern Iraq, piling new pressure onthe Tokyo government as it weighs a decision on sending troopsto help rebuild that country. (Reuters)"

7 Spaniards Killed in Iraqi Ambush: "LATIFIYA, Iraq, Nov. 29 -- More than a dozen insurgents ambushed and killed seven Spanish intelligence officers on Saturday on a highway near this town south of Baghdad, according to witnesses and Spanish officials. (washingtonpost.com)"

Turks capture synagogue bombing suspect: "A central figure in the suicide bombing of an Istanbul synagogue was captured while trying to slip into Iran, police said Saturday. He was charged with trying to overthrow Turkey's "constitutional order" - an offense equivalent to treason."

War is our Common Enemy: "Launched in February 2003 to "offer a humanitarian perspective during the then-looming conflict" in Iraq, Electronic Iraq (eIraq) is the project of two groups who will be familiar to many PN readers - Voices in the Wilderness (US) and Electronic Intifada. Peace News caught up with Nigel Parry, co-founder of both projects, to discuss the ethos behind this online information project. Peace News is a progressive publication that has been publishing since 1936."

Operation Iron Hammer assessed: "With the US pounding Iraqi towns with bombs and artillery in an effort to step up raids to catch oppositionists, human rights groups have expressed concern over the impact 'Operation Iron Hammer' could be having on local populations."

CIA admits lack of specifics on Iraqi weapons before invasion: "The US Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged it "lacked specific information" about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction when it compiled an intelligence estimate last year that served to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq. (AFP)"

November Is Deadliest Month: "Seventy-seven U.S. troops died in November, the worst month for the U.S. so far. Seven Spaniards and two Japanese were killed in separate ambushes Saturday. The American military says some U.S.-trained police may be helping the insurgents."

Spain's opposition: Get troops out of Iraq: "Hours after seven Spaniards were killed in an Iraqi ambush, the government doggedly promised Saturday to keep its troops in Iraq. But opposition politicians renewed demands for the soldiers to be returned home."

Hillary Clinton Meets With Iraq Officials: "U.S. senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jack Reed met in this oil-rich northern city Saturday with local officials who urged the visitors to raise the problems of their city with U.S. officials back home. (AP)"

"We're coming with a mighty force to end the reign of your
oppressors," Bush said, addressing Iraqis who might be
listening from afar. "We are coming to bring you food and
medicine and a better life. And we are coming and we will
not stop, we will not relent until your country is free."
We are very proud of you,Keep your helmet on!

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